Do you suffer from neck or shoulder tension? If so, you’re not alone. Chronic neck and shoulder pain affect millions of people, notes yoga therapist Robin Rothenberg, founder of Essential Yoga Therapy in this free download. And it’s not just an issue of chronic pain. It can also affect us systemically in terms of lower energy and reduced well-being.

Oftentimes, the problem may not really originate in the muscles of the neck and shoulders. Rather, what is most commonly at issue is loss of integration between the abdominal core and what Robin refers to as the mid-back core.

The center point of the body is the lower ribcage and the diaphragm, notes Robin. The upper and lower part of the body are linked through what Anatomy Trains author Tom Myers refers to as the deep front line, i.e. the deep inner core line that starts from the inner arches and runs up through the pelvic floor, the iliopsoas, the transverse abdominis, and into the diaphragm, and pericardium.